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CNN Live Today
Interview With Dakota Fanning
Aired August 20, 2003 - 11:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: "Uptown Girls" is in theaters this week. It stars Britney Murphy and none other than Dakota Fanning. It's the story of a grownup who can't grow up and a little kid who already did. Ranked No. 5 at the weekend box office, bringing in over $11 million. Not too bad, not too bad.
Well, Dakota Fanning is also filming "The Cat in the Hat" with Mike Meyers and Alec Baldwin. That's headed for theaters in the fall, in Thanksgiving.
But Dakota is with us this morning from Los Angeles.
And boy is she happy to be awake bright and early out in L.A.
Good morning, Dakota. How are you?
DAKOTA FANNING, ACTRESS: Good morning. I'm great. Thank you.
HARRIS: You are too chipper.
Hey, listen, I got to ask you this, because I have been warned about you. I've been told this little lady is too grown up itself. She's 9 going on 40. Is that true?
FANNING: Well, you know, I think of myself as nine years old, because I go home and play with my sister and stuff like that, and I just do something that I love to do. So I think of myself as 9.
HARRIS: All right, so how much are you like this girl Rae that you play in the movie?
FANNING: We both have done ballet for a really long time. I've done ballet for seven years, and it was fun to do something that my character loves that I love to do also, and then we're both also very clean.
HARRIS: Did you make them put the ballet in the movie, since you want to be a ballerina?
FANNING: No, it was actually a coincidence, so that was really funny actually .
HARRIS: How could you have done ballet for seven years if you are only nine? Does your mom have you dancing around when she had you in diapers?
FANNING: Well, I was in ballet school when I was two and a half. HARRIS: Excuse me. You must be quite accomplished then. Well, tell us -- tell you what, let's look at another clip from the movie.
FANNING: Okay. Great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITTANY MURPHY, ACTRESS: The cream before the sugar.
FANNING: I'm not having cream. I can't gain weight. My ballet recital is Friday night, remember?
MURPHY: Right, right, I remember.
FANNING: I invited you for afternoon tea. The least you can do is be polite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FANNING: Oh my God, you sound just like so many women I know. This is incredible. You have grown up too fast.
Listen, do you get recognized on the street a lot now that you are a big star on the big screen now?
FANNING: I do sometimes walking. You'll hear people whispering, but you'll hear like the key words. You'll hear -- "Uptown Girl," "Dakota Fanning," "I Am Sam," you know, like you will hear those key words. And so I do, and I think it's really fun. I remember the first time I got recognized.
HARRIS: OK, so is it more fun if it's the girls that recognize you or if it's the boys that recognize you.
FANNING: I think they're both equally fun.
HARRIS: OK.
FANNING: I think it's fun to get recognized on the street.
HARRIS: Well, as I understand it, your sister is also trying to become an actress right now, and you're coaching her?
FANNING: Well, she did "Daddy Daycare" with Eddie Murphy, and then she did a movie called "Door on the Floor" with Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges, and that's coming out next year.
And, but, yes, she has a good time doing it also, and she plays me younger in "I Am Sam" and me younger in "Taken," a miniseries that I did.
HARRIS: I saw you in "I Am Sam," and I'm not a tender guy, and you guys made me cry in that movie. That was a great movie. You did a great job. What else can do you? What next do you want to do? If you have done all that sort of stuff, you have done more in your nine years than a lot of actors and actresses have done in their entire careers.
FANNING: Well, I hope to still be acting and I would love, you know, to be a director, something like that. I just love doing everything. And that's -- we play, me and my sister like we're make- up people, and just everything.
HARRIS: All right. Dakota, you have been an absolute pleasure. And you know what, not just because you are my homegirl. I hear you're from Conyers, Georgia.
FANNING: Yes, I am.
HARRIS: All right. I used to live in Conyers.
HARRIS: Really?
FANNING: Yes, right down by the horse park. Do you know where that is?
FANNING: Yes, I do.
HARRIS: I told you, you're my little homegirl. I've got to keep an eye on you from now on out.
FANNING: All right.
HARRIS: You're the best.
Dakota Fanning, good luck, all right?
FANNING: Thank you very much.
HARRIS: Way to go with the movie and everything else. You know, we're going to have to have you back on the show. You're too good.
FANNING: I would love to.
HARRIS: All right, you be good now. We'll see you later.
FANNING: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 20, 2003 - 11:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: "Uptown Girls" is in theaters this week. It stars Britney Murphy and none other than Dakota Fanning. It's the story of a grownup who can't grow up and a little kid who already did. Ranked No. 5 at the weekend box office, bringing in over $11 million. Not too bad, not too bad.
Well, Dakota Fanning is also filming "The Cat in the Hat" with Mike Meyers and Alec Baldwin. That's headed for theaters in the fall, in Thanksgiving.
But Dakota is with us this morning from Los Angeles.
And boy is she happy to be awake bright and early out in L.A.
Good morning, Dakota. How are you?
DAKOTA FANNING, ACTRESS: Good morning. I'm great. Thank you.
HARRIS: You are too chipper.
Hey, listen, I got to ask you this, because I have been warned about you. I've been told this little lady is too grown up itself. She's 9 going on 40. Is that true?
FANNING: Well, you know, I think of myself as nine years old, because I go home and play with my sister and stuff like that, and I just do something that I love to do. So I think of myself as 9.
HARRIS: All right, so how much are you like this girl Rae that you play in the movie?
FANNING: We both have done ballet for a really long time. I've done ballet for seven years, and it was fun to do something that my character loves that I love to do also, and then we're both also very clean.
HARRIS: Did you make them put the ballet in the movie, since you want to be a ballerina?
FANNING: No, it was actually a coincidence, so that was really funny actually .
HARRIS: How could you have done ballet for seven years if you are only nine? Does your mom have you dancing around when she had you in diapers?
FANNING: Well, I was in ballet school when I was two and a half. HARRIS: Excuse me. You must be quite accomplished then. Well, tell us -- tell you what, let's look at another clip from the movie.
FANNING: Okay. Great.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRITTANY MURPHY, ACTRESS: The cream before the sugar.
FANNING: I'm not having cream. I can't gain weight. My ballet recital is Friday night, remember?
MURPHY: Right, right, I remember.
FANNING: I invited you for afternoon tea. The least you can do is be polite.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FANNING: Oh my God, you sound just like so many women I know. This is incredible. You have grown up too fast.
Listen, do you get recognized on the street a lot now that you are a big star on the big screen now?
FANNING: I do sometimes walking. You'll hear people whispering, but you'll hear like the key words. You'll hear -- "Uptown Girl," "Dakota Fanning," "I Am Sam," you know, like you will hear those key words. And so I do, and I think it's really fun. I remember the first time I got recognized.
HARRIS: OK, so is it more fun if it's the girls that recognize you or if it's the boys that recognize you.
FANNING: I think they're both equally fun.
HARRIS: OK.
FANNING: I think it's fun to get recognized on the street.
HARRIS: Well, as I understand it, your sister is also trying to become an actress right now, and you're coaching her?
FANNING: Well, she did "Daddy Daycare" with Eddie Murphy, and then she did a movie called "Door on the Floor" with Kim Basinger and Jeff Bridges, and that's coming out next year.
And, but, yes, she has a good time doing it also, and she plays me younger in "I Am Sam" and me younger in "Taken," a miniseries that I did.
HARRIS: I saw you in "I Am Sam," and I'm not a tender guy, and you guys made me cry in that movie. That was a great movie. You did a great job. What else can do you? What next do you want to do? If you have done all that sort of stuff, you have done more in your nine years than a lot of actors and actresses have done in their entire careers.
FANNING: Well, I hope to still be acting and I would love, you know, to be a director, something like that. I just love doing everything. And that's -- we play, me and my sister like we're make- up people, and just everything.
HARRIS: All right. Dakota, you have been an absolute pleasure. And you know what, not just because you are my homegirl. I hear you're from Conyers, Georgia.
FANNING: Yes, I am.
HARRIS: All right. I used to live in Conyers.
HARRIS: Really?
FANNING: Yes, right down by the horse park. Do you know where that is?
FANNING: Yes, I do.
HARRIS: I told you, you're my little homegirl. I've got to keep an eye on you from now on out.
FANNING: All right.
HARRIS: You're the best.
Dakota Fanning, good luck, all right?
FANNING: Thank you very much.
HARRIS: Way to go with the movie and everything else. You know, we're going to have to have you back on the show. You're too good.
FANNING: I would love to.
HARRIS: All right, you be good now. We'll see you later.
FANNING: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
